I know, threatening to call the cops? But, I just did not know what else to say to him. If I opened my door it would have hit him. He was thisclose to my door the whole time.

No, I don't think it's out of line. If he was making you uncomfortable or preventing you from leaving your vehicle, you may have been justified in calling. It's all about the context of the situation.

A while ago, there was a story from a poster who was followed to her car from the grocery, the man tried to open her door after she was in the drivers seat and demanded to see her military themed t-shirt. (He gave some story about serving in the military and didn't recognize the insignia on her shirt. When she refused, he became irate and tried to stand behind her car so she wouldn't leave. Now, on its face, 'There's a man standing outside my car, demanding to see my t-shirt.' sounds like a silly reason to call the police. But his behavior was bizarre and made the OP feel threatened. In that case, calling 911 would have been a good choice.

If nothing else, the threat of calling was enough to make him leave you alone.

Two completely different scenarios. In yours, the man was being threatening; in the OP's, he was being pushy. However, her saying she would call the cops worked and she didn't actually have to.

I know, threatening to call the cops? But, I just did not know what else to say to him. If I opened my door it would have hit him. He was thisclose to my door the whole time.

No, I don't think it's out of line. If he was making you uncomfortable or preventing you from leaving your vehicle, you may have been justified in calling. It's all about the context of the situation.

A while ago, there was a story from a poster who was followed to her car from the grocery, the man tried to open her door after she was in the drivers seat and demanded to see her military themed t-shirt. (He gave some story about serving in the military and didn't recognize the insignia on her shirt. When she refused, he became irate and tried to stand behind her car so she wouldn't leave. Now, on its face, 'There's a man standing outside my car, demanding to see my t-shirt.' sounds like a silly reason to call the police. But his behavior was bizarre and made the OP feel threatened. In that case, calling 911 would have been a good choice.

If nothing else, the threat of calling was enough to make him leave you alone.

Two completely different scenarios. In yours, the man was being threatening; in the OP's, he was being pushy. However, her saying she would call the cops worked and she didn't actually have to.

I know, threatening to call the cops? But, I just did not know what else to say to him. If I opened my door it would have hit him. He was thisclose to my door the whole time.

No, I don't think it's out of line. If he was making you uncomfortable or preventing you from leaving your vehicle, you may have been justified in calling. It's all about the context of the situation.

A while ago, there was a story from a poster who was followed to her car from the grocery, the man tried to open her door after she was in the drivers seat and demanded to see her military themed t-shirt. (He gave some story about serving in the military and didn't recognize the insignia on her shirt. When she refused, he became irate and tried to stand behind her car so she wouldn't leave. Now, on its face, 'There's a man standing outside my car, demanding to see my t-shirt.' sounds like a silly reason to call the police. But his behavior was bizarre and made the OP feel threatened. In that case, calling 911 would have been a good choice.

If nothing else, the threat of calling was enough to make him leave you alone.

Two completely different scenarios. In yours, the man was being threatening; in the OP's, he was being pushy. However, her saying she would call the cops worked and she didn't actually have to.

He was rude to ask. It's rude to ask strangers to inconvenience themselves to make life easier for yourself. Not to mention that if you had pulled forward, you would be parked "wrong."

Since he left before you called the cops, I would've mentioned it to the manager. You just never know these days. Better to be safe.

It isn't automatically an inconvenience, though. I frequently jave just a few things that go in the car and not in the trunk. As far as being parked "the wrong way", even with angled spots you can usually pull out and go the right way without any problems.

Merely approaching a stranger as they are getting out of their car would freak out most people. So, in this case even asking was rude. If there was a genuine need like maybe, "Could you call 911, someone just stole my car?" then it is OK to ask.

It wasn't rude of him to ask but I would definitely have felt threatened. (I am a very nervous person).What I can't get my head around is why he would get out to ask! In the time he took to do that he could have been parked. It's baffling. Maybe he was trying to make a power play and he just likes to boss around x amount of people a day, like he has a quota? Well done for not engaging though.

It wasn't rude of him to ask but I would definitely have felt threatened. (I am a very nervous person).What I can't get my head around is why he would get out to ask! In the time he took to do that he could have been parked. It's baffling. Maybe he was trying to make a power play and he just likes to boss around x amount of people a day, like he has a quota? Well done for not engaging though.

This, exactly. There are lots of parking-lot situations that frustrate me, but ultimately (since I seem to be no good at making people do my bidding through the power of my mind ), that's on me. It would never occur to me to approach a stranger in a parking lot for anything that wasn't an actual emergency of some kind (and I'd probably include "You left your drink on top of your car" in that category, even though it's a very mild emergency). There's just too much potential for scaring people.

We were at a Walmart that has both diagonal and parallel handicap spaces. There was a woman in one of the parallel spaces. We pulled our motorhome (footprint of a pickup truck) into one of the diagonal spaces. We hung the tag, I got out with my cane, and then the woman asked us to move because she was handicapped and needed that space.

Lucas just said, "My wife needs it, too." and went on. I think that is "partial silence". Heck! If she wanted it, she should have taken in when it was available. She was in the other space before we turned into that aisle, so imagined intimidation or respect could not have been a factor.

He was rude to ask. It's rude to ask strangers to inconvenience themselves to make life easier for yourself. Not to mention that if you had pulled forward, you would be parked "wrong."

Since he left before you called the cops, I would've mentioned it to the manager. You just never know these days. Better to be safe.

It isn't automatically an inconvenience, though. I frequently jave just a few things that go in the car and not in the trunk. As far as being parked "the wrong way", even with angled spots you can usually pull out and go the right way without any problems.

With my SUV, it wouldn't be quite so easy to pull out of wrong way parking. And again, I always put grocery items in the back so I need to lift the back of the truck. I use the back area of my truck even if I only have 2 bags.

So for me, it would be an inconvenience. I still stand by my opinion that it was rude of him to even ask.

He was rude to ask. It's rude to ask strangers to inconvenience themselves to make life easier for yourself. Not to mention that if you had pulled forward, you would be parked "wrong."

Since he left before you called the cops, I would've mentioned it to the manager. You just never know these days. Better to be safe.

It isn't automatically an inconvenience, though. I frequently jave just a few things that go in the car and not in the trunk. As far as being parked "the wrong way", even with angled spots you can usually pull out and go the right way without any problems.

With my SUV, it wouldn't be quite so easy to pull out of wrong way parking. And again, I always put grocery items in the back so I need to lift the back of the truck. I use the back area of my truck even if I only have 2 bags.

So for me, it would be an inconvenience. I still stand by my opinion that it was rude of him to even ask.

It doesn't matter to me if it is an actual inconvenience. What matters is that it's so likely to be one. What the guy was essentially asking was, "Can you start your car up, move it from the legal parking spot into another parking spot, for my convenience which I won't bother to explain?" And that's capped off with him telling her in an abrupt manner to do it.

I don't subscribe to the view that it's okay to ask as long as you are willing to take no for an answer. IMO, it's rude to ask, especially when it's a stranger, unless you have a compelling a reason to make an exception to the rule. Even then it's not that it's suddenly polite, it's just that people are understanding. And certainly asking is better. Use of please and thank you is a nice red cherry on top.

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Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.Walt Whitman

No, I don't think it's out of line. If he was making you uncomfortable or preventing you from leaving your vehicle, you may have been justified in calling. It's all about the context of the situation.

A while ago, there was a story from a poster who was followed to her car from the grocery, the man tried to open her door after she was in the drivers seat and demanded to see her military themed t-shirt. (He gave some story about serving in the military and didn't recognize the insignia on her shirt. When she refused, he became irate and tried to stand behind her car so she wouldn't leave. Now, on its face, 'There's a man standing outside my car, demanding to see my t-shirt.' sounds like a silly reason to call the police. But his behavior was bizarre and made the OP feel threatened. In that case, calling 911 would have been a good choice.

If nothing else, the threat of calling was enough to make him leave you alone.

I totally agree. I have called 911 for similar things. A guy banging on my door at 9 pm claiming to be from my alarm company. Another guy who apparently followed me from my house, because he demanded that I give his sister furniture that I had stored in my garage.

*** clipped ***I totally agree. I have called 911 for similar things. A guy banging on my door at 9 pm claiming to be from my alarm company. Another guy who apparently followed me from my house, because he demanded that I give his sister furniture that I had stored in my garage.[/quote]

Eeep! That would put a serious fear in me. Serious fear... What DID you do in response??

*** clipped ***I totally agree. I have called 911 for similar things. A guy banging on my door at 9 pm claiming to be from my alarm company. Another guy who apparently followed me from my house, because he demanded that I give his sister furniture that I had stored in my garage.

Eeep! That would put a serious fear in me. Serious fear... What DID you do in response?? [/quote]Called the cops on 911 while locked in my car and laying on the horn hard. Employees from the grocery store came over and scared the guy away. The police put in extra patrols around my house for a while, and I let my neighbors know. For a couple of weeks I was real nervous taking out the garbage. When I leave I still get in the car and lock the doors before opening the garage door. When I get home I wait till the garage door is completely down before opening the car door.